U.S. patent number 6,652,628 [Application Number 10/190,035] was granted by the patent office on 2003-11-25 for diesel fuel heated desiccant reactivation.
Invention is credited to Spencer W. Hess.
United States Patent |
6,652,628 |
Hess |
November 25, 2003 |
Diesel fuel heated desiccant reactivation
Abstract
Desiccants employed in dehumidifying moisturized air present
within a water-damaged building are themselves dehumidified to
liberate collected moisture through the use of ambient air drawn
over and about a heat exchanger fired by diesel fuel.
Inventors: |
Hess; Spencer W. (Whiting,
NJ) |
Family
ID: |
34712048 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/190,035 |
Filed: |
July 8, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
95/113; 95/115;
95/120; 95/123; 96/125; 96/127; 96/146; 96/150 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01D
53/06 (20130101); B01D 53/261 (20130101); F24F
3/1423 (20130101); B01D 2253/106 (20130101); B01D
2253/25 (20130101); B01D 2257/80 (20130101); B01D
2259/40088 (20130101); F24F 2203/1032 (20130101); F24F
2203/1056 (20130101); F24F 2203/1068 (20130101); F24F
2203/1084 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B01D
53/26 (20060101); B01D 53/06 (20060101); B01D
053/06 (); B01D 053/26 () |
Field of
Search: |
;95/113-115,120,123,126
;96/125-128,130,146,150 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Spitzer; Robert H.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Brodsky; Charles I.
Claims
I claim:
1. A method for dehumidifying moisturized air present within a
building from a point external thereto comprising the steps of:
providing a dehumidifying chamber including a heat exchanger and a
desiccant; drawing ambient air from outside the building over said
heat exchanger and through said desiccant in a first direction;
drawing moisturized air from within the building through said
desiccant in a second direction; and firing said heat exchanger
with diesel fuel.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said desiccant includes a silica
gel composition.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said desiccant includes a rotating
silica gel wheel.
4. Apparatus for dehumidifying moisturized air present within a
building from a point external thereto comprising: an enclosure
housing a heat exchanger, a desiccant, a first blower drawing
ambient air from outside said enclosure over said heat exchanger
through said desiccant in a first direction, a second blower
drawing said moisturized air through said desiccant in a second
direction, and means for firing said heat exchanger with diesel
fuel.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said enclosures rests on a
ground surface adjacent said building in which said moisturized air
is present.
6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said enclosure rests on a
trailer or truck bed adjacent said building in which said
moisturized air is present.
7. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said desiccant includes a
silica gel composition.
8. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said desiccant includes a
rotating silica gel wheel.
9. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said first and second blowers
draw said ambient air and said moisturized air through said
desiccant in opposite directions.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
NONE
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Research and development of this invention and Application have not
been federally sponsored, and no rights are given under any Federal
program.
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
NOT APPLICABLE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the restoration industry, in general, and
to the drying-out of water damaged buildings, in particular.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is known and understood, mobile desiccant dehumidifiers have
begun to be employed more and more in recent years to dry water
damaged buildings to reduce health problems caused by the incipient
mold which develops. As is also known, silica gel is oftentimes
employed as the desiccant in a wheel through which the moistened
air is pulled from the walls, the flooring, the concrete, etc. into
the dehumidifying chamber. As the silica gel, or other desiccant
employed, absorbs the moisture, however, it becomes necessary to
additionally heat the desiccant to liberate the moisture it
collects; this, then, serves to optimize the operation in a
continuous cycle--allowing the desiccant to continually absorb the
moisture in the building. Where large-scale desiccant equipment is
employed, the heat energy, required is typically provided by
electric heating or propane heating. However, problems exist with
both these methods of reactivating the desiccant.
For example, electric heating requires a large amount of electric
power, which many damaged buildings will not have available.
Utilizing alternatively provided generators, on the other hand,
adds additional expense from their rental, along with an
accompanying high fuel bill. Propane fired dehumidifiers, on the
other hand, exhibit many disadvantages of their own: a) Special
permits are frequently required to transport the propane to the
work site by trailer or other vehicle; b) Additional permits are
oftentimes required for working with propane at the work site
itself; c) A resupply of propane may not be readily available--as
when the building being dried is at a remote location, or when a
resupply is needed the middle-of-the-night, or on a Sunday; d)
Firing the dehumidifier with propane produces a moisturizing effect
which undesirably wets the processed air being dried; and e)
Propane, itself, is highly flammable.
Still, as the need to reactivate the silica gel or other desiccant
continues, dehumidifiers of these types continue to be used--both
when carried on the bed of a trailer, or when off-loaded alongside
the building.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a
new and improved manner of reactivating the desiccant in these
de-humidifying apparatus.
It is an object of the invention, also, to provide such a manner of
reactivation without adding offsetting limitations of its own.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a manner of
reactivation which is readily available to use, and economical in
operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As will become clear from the following description, apparatus
according to the invention for dehumidifying moisturized air
present within a building from a point external thereto includes an
enclosure housing a heat exchanger, a desiccant, a first blower
drawing ambient air from outside the enclosure over the heat
exchanger through the desiccant in a first direction, a second
blower drawing the moisturized air from within the building through
the desiccant in a second direction, and means for firing the heat
exchanger with diesel fuel. As will also be seen, the enclosure, in
one embodiment, may rest on a ground surface adjacent to the
building in which the moisturized air is present--while, in a
second embodiment, the enclosure may rest on a trailer or truck bed
on which it is carried to the work site adjacent to the building to
be dehumidified. In such instances, the desiccant may include a
silica gel composition--for example, in the form of a rotating
silica gel wheel. In operation, the ambient air once heated is
drawn through the desiccant in a direction opposite to that in
which the moisturized air is drawn. The heated ambient air thus
serves to liberate the moisture collected by the desiccant, in
reactivating it for continuing use.
A method is thus provided for dehumidifying the moisturized air
present within the building by providing a dehumidifying chamber
including the heat exchanger and the desiccant. Ambient air from
outside the building in which the moisturized air is present is
drawn over the heat exchanger and through the desiccant in a first
direction. The moisturized air present within the building is drawn
through the desiccant in a second direction, with the desiccant
itself being dehumidified by the ambient air passing over and
around the heat exchanger. In accordance with the invention, the
method includes the firing of the heat exchanger with diesel fuel.
In a preferred embodiment, the dehumidifying chamber provided
includes a desiccant of silica gel composition, and in the form of
a rotating silica gel wheel.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the diesel fuel
employed in the heating process is available virtually anywhere
where diesel trucks serve as a means of transportation. Because
diesel fuel provides a greater amount of BTU's per gallon than
propane, less fuel is required to provide the heat for the
desiccant with diesel fuel than with propane, resulting in a cost
savings in use. Also, because the diesel fuel burns without
producing moisture, the processed air becomes that much dryer,
enabling the reactivation of the desiccant to be accomplished
faster, thereby increasing performance in operation. And, because
the desiccant dehumidifier of the invention operates more
efficiently, its construction allows for a reduction in the
required horsepower of the reactivation blower pulling the ambient
air over the heat exchanger--resulting in a more compact machine,
for easier transportation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features of the present invention will be more
clearly understood from a consideration of the following
description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in
which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram helpful in an understanding of the
apparatus and method for dehumidifying moisturized air present
within a building from a point external thereto; and
FIG. 2 illustrates a preferred construction of the desiccant
employed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the desiccant reactivation apparatus of
the invention and its method of operation both follow from the use
of an enclosure 10 having a heat exchanger 12 and a desiccant 14.
Reference numeral 20 identifies a building in which moisturized air
is present which the apparatus of the invention is to dehumidify,
with the enclosure 10 having a bottom surface 16 which may rest
upon a trailer or truck bed adjacent the building 20 once driven to
the work site. Alternatively, the enclosure 10 could be off-loaded
from the trailer or truck bed onto the ground itself. Reference
numeral indicates a diesel fuel burner according to the invention,
having an exhaust gas stack 22. As will be understood, the diesel
fuel burner 18 heats the exchanger 12 from the inside out.
A first, or reactivation, blower 24 draws ambient air from the
surrounds via 18 inch ductwork 70, for example, into the enclosure
10, over and about the diesel fired heat exchanger 12 and through
the desiccant 14 in a first direction, as illustrated by the arrows
50; the moisture liberated, heated air through the desiccant 14 is
discharged outside the enclosure 10 as shown by the arrows 51-52. A
second, or processed air, blower 26 draws the moisturized air from
within the building through like ductwork 72 and the desiccant 14
in a second direction (shown by the arrows 60), which traps the
moisture therein before discharging the dried air out the enclosure
10 as shown by the arrows 61-62. The diesel fired heat exchanger 12
thus dehumidifies the desiccant 14 of the moisture collected from
the wet building air in reactivating the desiccant 14 for
continuing use. As previously noted, the diesel fuel is readily
available, clean burning, and efficient in operation. And, as a
result, the desiccant dehumidifying apparatus can be rented out for
use at a lowered cost, reducing the expenses in restoring water
damaged buildings to their original conditions.
In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the ambient air from outside
the enclosure 10 is shown as being drawn through the desiccant 14
in a direction opposite to that in which the moisturized air is
pulled from the building through the desiccant 14. In such manner
of use, a desiccant 14 including a silica gel composition is
particularly attractive in collecting the moisture from the
water-damaged building's air. FIG. 2 illustrates the desiccant 14
as being in the form of a rotating silica gel wheel 90 in a frame
92 within the enclosure 10. Because the apparatus employing the
diesel fuel firing is of increased efficiency, the horsepower
requirements of the reactivation blower 24 pulling the ambient air
is significantly reduced, in allowing the enclosure 10 to be of
lesser size. The enclosure could then be permanently mounted on a
trailer and brought to the work site mobilized for use.
The method of employing the invention then follows--either with a
desiccant of silica gel composition, or in the form of a rotating
wheel, or otherwise--simply by providing the dehumidifying chamber
with the heat exchanger and the desiccant, drawing the ambient air
from outside the building over and about the heat exchanger through
the desiccant in a first direction, and drawing the moisturized air
out from the building through the desiccant in a second
direction--all the while firing the heat exchanger with the diesel
fuel. As with the described apparatus, an improved environmental
drawing results, quickly, simply and efficiently, thereby reducing
the severe health and/or carcinogenic problems associated with
water damaged buildings.
While there have been described what are considered to be preferred
embodiments of the present invention, it will be readily
appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications can be
made without departing from the scope of the teachings herein. For
at least such reason, therefore, resort should be had to the claims
appended hereto for a true understanding of the invention.
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